7 Biblical Steps to Restoring Relationships and Broken Fellowship

God has restored our relationship with Him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. — 2 Corinthians 5:18 (GWT)

Focusing on our spiritual growth, the Shepherd has asked that we read this article on 7 Biblical Steps to Restoring Relationships and Broken Fellowship by Rick Warren which originally appeared on faithgateway.

He would also like to hear your thoughts in the comment section below on the article and the topic at hand.

Relationships are always worth restoring. God has given us the ministry of restoring relationships. For this reason a significant amount of the New Testament is devoted to teaching us how to get along with one another.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. — Philippians 2:1-2 (MSG)

Shame on you! Surely there is at least one wise person in your fellowship who can settle a dispute between fellow Christians. — 1 Corinthians 6:5 (TEV)

I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. — 1 Corinthians 1:10 (MSG)

Jesus said, “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” — Matthew 5:9 (NLT)

Here are seven biblical steps to restoring fellowship:

1. Talk to God before talking to the person.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. — James 4:1-2 (NIV)

2. Always take the initiative.

Jesus said, “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.” — Matthew 5:23-24 (MSG)

3. Sympathize with their feelings.

Look out for another’s interests, not just for your own. — Philippians 2:4 (TEV)

Often we tell people that they need to reconcile, but we forget to give the tools on how to do it. Not everyone has the skills to know what to do. This article tries to address this by providing 7 steps to restoring a relationship. Awesome tool.